Rio Tinto, an Australian mining company, and BHP Group plan on working together to test large battery-operated electric haul truck technology in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Rio Tinto released a statement saying, “The two companies will work with manufacturers Caterpillar and Komatsu to conduct independent trials of their battery-electric haul trucks, including testing of battery, static, and dynamic charging systems, to assess performance and productivity in the Pilbara environment.”
Both companies aim to achieve Net-Zero operational greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
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As part of a collaborative effort, two Cat 793 haul trucks will undergo trials at mine sites located in Western Australia’s Pilbara region starting in the latter half of 2024, followed by two Komatsu 930 haul trucks from 2026.
Under this arrangement, Caterpillar and Komatsu will supply one truck each to BHP and Rio Tinto for the trials. BHP will evaluate the performance of the Caterpillar trucks, while Rio Tinto will assess the Komatsu trucks. The results of these trials will be shared between BHP and Rio Tinto.
“As we work to repower our Pilbara operations with renewable energy, collaborations like this move us closer to solving the shared challenge of decarbonising our operations, and meeting our Net-Zero commitments”, Rio Tinto Iron Ore Chief Executive Simon Trott.
BHP President Australia Geraldine Slattery said, “We’ve already seen a step-change reduction in Scope 1 and 2 operational greenhouse gas emissions through switching some of our supply to renewable electricity, and we are looking to build on that progress through the development of battery-electric technology to reduce diesel usage across our operations.”
Additionally, in 2021, Rio Tinto and BHP collaborated with Caterpillar and Komatsu to assist in the development and validation of prototype battery-electric haul trucks.
